Air heater



Oct. 9, 1928.

1,686,614 J. H. HUME AIR HEATER Filed Ja 25, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Law-m4 firm/W426 Oct. 9, 1928.

J. H. HUME AIR HEATER Filed Jan. 25, 1927 Hm mm 1 mm.

' class in which the air and Patented Oct. 9, 1928;-

. wer an JAMES nownnn HU E; or GLASGOW, sco'r Aim;

' an; EATER] Application filed ail-m 25;1927; Serial 163,331. and;i ergat n tamn embr so, 1926."

'This invention relatesto air'h'eaters contrived to effect exchange-of heat between hot gaseousmedium, such as waste gasesfroma furnace, for example, and a r to be heated or preheated, whether for supporting co'mbustion or for drying or other purposes, of that gas streams are di- Vided into sub-streams separated by conducting diaphragms with which they are brought 7 in intimate contact, while flowing counter to one another.

The heater of the invention comprises'in effect a cellular structure composed of shallow cells of large superficial area, with rows. of

air cells alternating with rows of gas cells,@

the diaphragms which separate the rows of air cells. from the rows of gas cells. being readily capable of assembly and as readily removable individually or in pairs or sets for repair or other purposes. l

In the accompanying drawings: Fig. 1 is a vertical section on the of,Fig.3. p

h Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 3. r r

Fig. 3 is a plan to the invention. 7 Fig; a is a plan view tion in which" the wall and 5 is a diagrammatic elevationshowing a variant.

lin r-'1 showing themodificaplates are'corrugate'd,

The air heatershown constitutes in effect a box-like structure built up of air cells alter nating with rows of gas cells. I

The walls of thesecell are constituted by parallel or equidistant-plates provided on at least one 'sidewith transverse ribs or spacing members thermally connected to the plates and serving to subdivide the shallow fluid streams separated by the plates, the ribs constrainin own course.

7 As shown in Figs. 1, 2 was, plates l are. arranged in parallel relation and arejpro-. vided alternately with a stepped set of plane vertical ribs 2 and with a set of corrugated ribs 3 outstanding from the plate. The ribs 2 serve as partations between air cells 4:,-'and the ribs 3 serve as partations between" gas cells 5. Angle bars 5v are fitted along the top sembled relation with the remaining plates.- view of a heater according the sub-strean is to follow each its yenient to construct the, heater with the v or other means] At the terminal edges the plates 1 are united to vertical bars 9 forming spacing members, said bars being engaged at the ends by bolts 12, which secure the'plates to the Wall of 1 smoke-box or the like to wliich'areconnected the flue or'smoke box. The bars 9 are formed thermal contact, ensuring maximum conduction of heat across the metal besides isolating the air cells from thegas cells.

Assuming that a section or row of cells is'to be temporarily withdrawns-the bolts 14; are slackened and shifted laterally out of the with recesses traversed by bolts 14 which serve I recesses. 'Then the bolts at'l2 belonging to theplate to be removed are freed and the plate '2 lifted (or it may be dropped) out of its as 1n allcases the ribs forming partitions be spaced apart as to permit convenient insertion of cleaning devices, so that theconduct ing surfaces maybe kept clean in the interest of efficiency. ,Retardmg. devices ormeans for producing turbulence may be inserted in the I gaps between ad acent plates or the ribs'may" be constructed as retarders- A complete heater may comprise "any desired number ofsecti'o'ns whichcan be conveniently shipped and transported and read ily assembled at the point of use. I A pluralityof such heater units may. be arranged in se iries or in parallel and provision may be made for passing the air through less than thetotal number of units.

tween the cells of .a row are preferably so Though in most cases it will be found conribs disposed vertically, it willbe understoodthat the ribs. may be disposedhorizontally. Also i the plates may be disposed horizontally and v adapted to be Withdrawn laterally.

In the particular embodimentillustrated the plates are individually removable. It is '5 understood, however, that a pair or set of I adjoining plates may be united to form a shallow box removable as such. In this event the ribs or certainof the ribs ofthe plates or of certain of the plates will, form the narrow 10 walls of the relative boxes. j

" I claim An air heater comprising a plurality of spaced plates having ribs serving to space the plates, the plates and ribs'forming the Walls of cells to be traversed by hot gases and'by air to be preheateclyeach plate forming the.

base of a row of cells on each side, and means for clamping said plates together to form a JAMES I-IOWDEN' HUME. f

unit permitting removal'or" at least one of 

